Highlight 21/2022 – The African Union, a force to be reckoned with?
Geoffrey Mousa Bala Gaye, 13 April 2022
On the 25th May, 1963, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Organisation of African Union (OAU) was founded, with 32 signatory states that had gained independence, with the core aim to unite the continent; strive for self-reliance. On the 26th May, 2001, the African Union was born, succeeding the OAU with 55 member states.
50 years later, Africa is still highly dependent on development and humanitarian aid. Cognizant of the deplorable pace of development; the majority of Africans destitute, with conflict rife on the continent, Head of States and governments marking the golden jubilee of the formation of the OAU/AU, affirmed their commitment to a Pan-African vision of a united, peaceful and affluent Africa, envisaging a powerhouse in the international arena. “The Africa we want” Agenda 2063 was established as the master plan to guide this transformation.
The 50-year development blueprint consists of 20 goals linked to 7 aspirations addressing all sectors of government. Furthermore, it entails 10-year implementation plans to ensure outcomes are both quantitative and qualitative. It also identifies key flagship programs as boosters for economic growth and development, for the rapid transformation of the continent.
Formulation of an Africa Commodities Strategy which aims to transform Africa from a supplier of raw materials to the rest of the world, to a continent that uses its own resources for its own economic development through value addition and local content development.
Africa Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) came into force in May, 2019 while trade commenced in January, 2021. It aims to liberalise and accelerate trade between African countries, and boost Africa’s position in the global trade market.
“Silencing the Gun by 2020” is a crucial component of Agenda 2063. The Africa Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) focuses on conflict prevention, crisis/conflict management and post-conflict reconstruction and peacebuilding inter alia. It entails five pillars; Peace and Security Council, Early Warning Systems, Preventive Diplomacy and Mediation, Africa Standby Force and other APSA programmes. There cannot be meaningful development without peace, security and stability, thus it should be treated as urgent and made fully operational.
Establishment of African continental financial institutions namely the Africa Investment Bank and the Pan-African Stock Exchange; African Central Bank and African Monetary Fund, with the main objective of resource mobilization and management of the African financial sector.
Financing the Union has been a major challenge as 40% of member states do not pay yearly contributions. The Kigali Decision of July 2016 to implement a 0.2% levy on eligible imports from non-member states to finance the union was a groundbreaking decision. Adequate, predictable and reliable funding is crucial in implementing programs in a timely and sustainable manner, to also achieve the desired development goals within the set timeframes. In order to expedite implementation, complementary measures were adopted to reinforce the decision; introducing a new sanctions regime in November, 2018 for non-payment of dues. It will shorten the period a country is considered to be in default to 6 months from 2 years with categories; cautionary, intermediate and comprehensive sanctions, restricting members from participation and benefiting from all the organs of the Union.
Significant progress has been made towards achieving the objectives set out in the Agenda 2063; flagship prgrammes and 10 year implementation plan, however, targets have not been met. The Union is still underfunded by both members and donours; heavily dependent on external contributions and only a group of member states carry the burden.
It is crucial for the AU to develop well-defined strategies for its engagement with development partners such as the UN, EU, US, China, India and Russia, with a clear vision, to guide all decisions in order to mitigate potential risks or any unintended consequences, to better achieve its development needs and aspirations.
African countries are always negotiating from a position of weakness as their unity is to some extent questionable, resources are not well coordinated and managed, and lack equitable representation in key decision-making bodies. The African Union in theory is the largest voting bloc with 54 member states, more than a quarter of the United Nations membership, thus it should be in a position to effectively influence the affairs of the multilateral system in line with its agenda.
Agenda 2063 is a great blueprint for development. However, decisions in the international arena have a significant bearing on the agenda, therefore critical mass is imperative. Africa’s greatest challenge has been having one voice; one position. A Common Foreign Policy will make Africa a force to reckon with.
Geoffrey Mousa Bala Gaye, Highlight 21/2022 – The African Union, a force to be reckoned with?, 13 April 2022, available at www.meig.ch
The views expressed in the MEIG Highlights are personal to the author and neither reflect the positions of the MEIG Programme nor those of the University of Geneva.
References
https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/38310-doc-9_2015-en-apsa-roadmap-final.pdf